The Sorrowmender

Chapter 66 – What does the word 'desire' mean? Great enlightenment

"She doesn't ignore you on purpose; she just can't speak."

"The reason she doesn't lift her head is that she's afraid of frightening the City Lord."

As soon as Meng Xiao finished speaking, the woman's head under the black robe began nodding vigorously, as if affirming Meng Xiao's words.

"What do you mean?"

Lin Shuo could understand the first sentence, but the second one, about frightening himself, left him puzzled.

Xu Qingzhou felt the same.

"Meng Xiao, no need to keep us in suspense. Tell us everything you know in detail."

Upon hearing Xu Qingzhou speak, Meng Xiao respectfully bowed.

"Understood, Mister."

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He then began to recount the woman's story.

"This young lady was originally an ordinary maid in the mansion. Three years ago, when the City Lord was injured, it was she who took care of him meticulously. However, the Lady, to prevent the City Lord from recovering, tampered with the medicine."

"But this maid overheard it by accident. Somehow, she secretly switched the medicine, and this went on for several months."

"Originally, City Lord, you were not supposed to wake up. The Lady didn't want you dead, but neither did she want you awake. You being asleep suited her better."

"But because this young lady changed the medicine, you gradually began to open your eyes. Once the Lady found out, she naturally investigated and found her out."

"The Lady didn't want to kill her, as long as she revealed who instructed her and agreed to feed the City Lord medicine daily, she would spare her. But she refused to say anything, no matter what was asked. So, the Lady had her tongue cut out, and also..."

At this point, Meng Xiao's voice inexplicably weakened, and Xu Qingzhou saw a trace of hesitation and avoidance in the eyes of this man who had lived a life of killing.

Lin Shuo also noticed, his expression becoming increasingly anxious, his voice hoarse as he asked, "What happened?"

"They also... they also skinned her alive."

Lin Shuo was thunderstruck upon hearing this, his mind buzzing, nearly falling backward, his eyes widening as he stared blankly at the young lady curled up on the ground, utterly at a loss.

Pain and shock intertwined in his eyes.

The cutting of the tongue aside, the torture of skinning, the pain of being skinned alive, was terrifying even to imagine.

"Damn it, damn it, hateful, detestable... cough, cough, cough."

Xu Qingzhou couldn't help but shudder upon hearing this, the cold wind rushing into his lungs, his scalp tingling.

"The pain of being skinned alive."

As a transmigrator, he had read some historical records and had heard of the ten great tortures, skinning being one of them.

To have all the skin stripped from the body, how cruel, how bloody. No wonder when they entered earlier, he smelled a strong stench of decay.

Now thinking about it, wasn't it emanating from this young lady?

No wonder she wrapped herself so tightly.

"After the skinning, I followed the Lady's orders and threw her out of the mansion. Seeing her pitiful state, I placed her in an abandoned temple, so even if she died, she wouldn't be exposed to the elements. But I never expected she would survive."

"It's a miracle, a tough fate."

At this point, even Meng Xiao showed a look of admiration. Of course, what he admired was not the fate he mentioned, but the young lady's resilience.

To survive after being skinned alive and abandoned in a deserted temple, it required more than just a tough fate.

"Why, why, why did you treat me like this? I clearly did nothing."

Lin Shuo's eyes were no longer filled with despair, but replaced by endless pain, his already thin face now twisted.

Silent tears appeared in his bloodshot eyes.

The girl in the black robe remained lying on the ground, her body trembling and twitching continuously.

Meng Xiao looked at Lin Shuo, in such a disheveled state, his voice inexplicably weakened.

"City Lord, when you first became the City Lord, you weren't that bad. Back then, when you saw someone pitiful, you often did good deeds and gave alms."

"This young lady, when she was young, sold herself to bury her father in the south of the city. Seeing her pitiful state, the City Lord gave her three taels of silver."

"It was with these three taels of silver that she grew up and entered the mansion as an ordinary maid."

"But later, the City Lord changed, becoming violent, cruel, and evil, becoming unrecognizable."

Meng Xiao's words seemed to trigger something in Lin Shuo, memories flooding in like a tide.

Back then, he had a distinguished background, an outstanding talent.

A young man on horseback leaning against a slanted bridge, red sleeves waving from the buildings, how dashing, how romantic.

He was also that carefree young man of the mountains and rivers, entrusted with wildness by the heavens, once granting rain and wind, borrowing the moon from flowing clouds—

Back then, he also dreamed of traveling the world with a sword—

Back then, he also sang loudly with a sword, punishing evil and promoting good—

But later, when he became the City Lord, everything changed.

In the officialdom, deceit and trickery, the intertwining of interests between people, birds of a feather, he slowly became tainted in the mire.

His original intentions lost, power and desire consumed him completely.

But back then, he could still maintain a bit of rationality until he learned he couldn't have children, and his temperament changed drastically.

He became a completely different person.

In this world, how could there be inherently evil people? It's just step by step, being led astray by worldly interests, blinded by desire.

It's easy to be a poor and destitute person, easier to be a powerful and evil person.

"Hahaha, karma, karma."

"Mister was right, my current downfall is all my own doing. I have wronged this young lady, and I have wronged the people of Linfeng City."

Lin Shuo lamented and cried in pain.

It was only at this moment that he truly realized where he went wrong and why.

It was only now that he truly understood the great truths Xu Qingzhou had spoken earlier.

Truths are meant to be spoken, but aren't they all spoken after people have experienced them?

Heaven's sins are unforgivable.

Self-inflicted sins, how can one live?

Xu Qingzhou took all of this in, deeply moved.

Lin Shuo before him, and Mo Shengge as well, should have been the graceful young men and women of this world.

But because of power and desire, they lost their original intentions and became what they are now.

Ending up in such a state.

The ancients said, it's easy to guard wealth, but hard to guard virtue.

Throughout history, how many virtuous and ambitious people, after gaining power, went against their original intentions, began to swell, and became heinous villains?

Power breeds desire, and the heart is like a bottomless pit, hard to fill with thick soil.

How can it be clearly explained or understood?

It's hard to be an evil person without power or influence!

It's even harder to be a good person with power and influence!

What is a sage? One who can control desire is a sage.

Desire is hard to control, so there are few sages in the world.

Xu Qingzhou sighed, he had said that he could cure all the illnesses in the world, except for the word 'desire.'

It can only be self-crossed, self-awakened, self-examined, self-blamed.

He stood up, looking at the unfamiliar yet not detestable Lin Shuo before him, and asked:

"City Lord, still want to gamble?"

Lin Shuo raised his head, this time, he no longer avoided Xu Qingzhou's gaze, no longer shrank back, and no longer feared.

"No more gambling, I lost."

The young lady could endure the pain of being skinned for him, what doubt is there in dying?

Even though until now, he still didn't know the child's name.

Xu Qingzhou didn't say anything more, the answer was obvious, what need was there to gamble?

He slowly crouched down, softly calling in the young lady's ear:

"Young Lady, if you want him to live, please give me your hand!"